Boasting a long list of clients, with imagery captured through his use of carefully balanced frames and crafty in-camera techniques, Colby has received notable awards in the industry after directing and shooting commercials in five continents, 14 countries and 35 states in the US.

Although Colby now finds himself in an enviable position, it took a while before he could gather the composure to actually collect an award.

"I thought for many years that it was a little too self-important to pick up awardsÉbut then you get an office and you think, god, wouldn't it be really nice to get something on those shelves," jokes Colby, whose clients have included the US Marine Corps through JWT, Atlanta, Bell Atlantic out of Tierney, Philadelphia and International Coffee through Young & Rubicam, NY.

The frame is constantly being analyzed by Colby. "I approached my framing in the same demeanor as a still photographer, so I'll move the frame in a certain direction, maintain its balance and visualize how I would actually feel watching the film."

Colby's recent spot for Zurich Financial through Mangos, Philadelphia was shot in Iceland and illustrates his prime regard for careful frame composition and exposure control. "Iceland is one of those places that's incredibly green and beautiful," explains Colby. "We were on top of a glacier; the sun came up at 2:30 in the morning and fell about 11:30 at night. Working with snow and sky I use a spot meter and ignore an instant meter because there's a lot of bounce and reflective light. I would spot the snow and sky, then underexpose about two stops for the snow to leave the sky darker."

The beautifully composed spot also includes an interesting visual captured in-camera by Colby. It involves a panning movement across a child's face incorporating an elegant flash effect in the midst of the movement. "I turned the camera off midway as I quickly panned," explains Colby. "Then I turned the camera back on. This creates that quick-flash frame as you move from left to right. A lot of those little things are happy accidents -- that's half the fun and half the pain."

Colby used Eastman EXR 50D Color Negative Film during the shoot for specific reasons. "I incorporated a skip-bleach process for greater contrast ratios to burn the snow slightly. It adds a bit of contrast to an otherwise very uncontrasty place. Skip bleach creates more grain so I also needed Kodak's tight grain structure."

The various colors prominent throughout Colby's reel are created during transfer as he continues to experiment with different lighting in terms of color temperature changes for a more interesting look.

"I primarily set the mood by filtration transfer," explains Colby. "I'll use slight filtration in terms of diffusion to create the mood. I don't use heavy filtration in the camera because it's usually a lot easier to sell something if agencies realize they have options; if agencies want a filtered or diffused look, I can create that in post primarily because there are less options with in-camera diffusion."